Audio 3:57
Hun Sen hangs on in Cambodia election

Auskar Subarkti, Tony EastleyUpdated
Mon 29 Jul 2013, 9:36 AM AEST

It's been a long, twisted political journey for Cambodian leader, Hun Sen, whose party was returned to power at the weekend. After 28 years in power, 60-year-old Hun Sen is ingrained in the country's political framework. The elections did however reveal he faces spirited competition from the Opposition. Although still not official it looks as though Hun Sen's party will take 68 out of the 123 seats in the lower house.

Transcript

TONY EASTLEY: It's been a long, twisted political journey for Cambodian leader Hun Sen, whose party was returned to power at the weekend.

His political life began when he jumped ship from the Khmer Rouge and joined forces with the invading Vietnamese, who promptly installed him as prime minister.

It was a shaky start but now, after 28 years in power, 60-year-old Hun Sen is ingrained in the country's political framework.

The elections did however reveal he faces spirited competition from the opposition. Although still not official, it looks as though Hun Sen's party will take 68 out of the 123 seats in the lower house.

The ABC's Auskar Surbakti is in Phnom Penh. Auskar, how was the elections viewed there in Phnom Penh?

AUSKAR SURBAKTI: In terms of how smoothly it ran, there were few reports of major incidents of violence when it came to the voting itself. But when I visited polling stations around the capital, people were very keen to tell me that they'd been denied the right to vote, that there were problems with the registry, that even people... strangers had voted in their place, basically denying them the right to vote.

So I heard many reports of these types of voting irregularities. But in terms of what the official election monitors said, they said everything was above-board, everything was free and fair, and everything was peaceful.

TONY EASTLEY: Auskar, was the outcome, do you think, a true indication of the opposition party's support in Cambodia?

AUSKAR SURBAKTI: It's hard to say. The opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party has a strong supporter base in Phnom Penh, in the capital, particularly among young people and the so-called "urban elite".

But when you look outside the capital, the ruling Cambodian People's Party has a massive support base there as well. So in terms of whether or not this result reflects the true make-up, I guess, of the voting public, it's a bit hard to tell. And that's made more difficult by the fact that the Committee for Free and Fair Elections, plus other international observers, say that there were massive voting irregularities outside of the capital Phnom Penh.

There were reports that up to 10 per cent of the 9 million registered voters are so-called "phantom voters"; they don't actually exist on the electoral role. But the opposition is also claiming that thousands of its supporters were denied the right to vote as well.

So, it's hard to say whether this provisional result - and remember, this isn't official yet - it's hard to say whether this result is truly reflective of the mood of the country.

TONY EASTLEY: Hun Sen has been around for a long time - 28 years in power, or so - is there any move on his part to hand on power, eventually?

AUSKAR SURBAKTI: Officially, the prime minister Hun Sen has declared that he's fighting fit, and that he's ready to rule for another decade or so. But when you ask analysts and when you ask even the people within his own party, they say that Hun Sen is actually grooming a next generation of leaders for the Cambodian People's Party.

And they include one of his youngest sons, Hun Many, and his son-in-law. Hun Many has actually been his, I guess, de facto campaigner on the road. Hun Sen hasn't made any campaign appearances over the last month.

The opposition believes that Hun Sen and his family have an unfair advantage when it comes to taking the reins of power. They allege that his family and his supporters have a stranglehold on industry and on power and authority in the country.

So the opposition are effectively campaigning for electoral reform and for an eradication of corruption in Cambodia - corruption that they allege has been led by the Cambodian People's Party.